The Force Is Strong As Sankeys Awakens

Ibiza is currently experiencing a curious phenomenon. While the beaches and streets of the island are still peaceful and quiet at this time of the year, the parties already pack a hefty punch, with the residents letting loose before they get too busy in the high season and visitors jetting in for the first round of openings.

So when we cruised down the deserted, moonlit motorway towards Playa d’en Bossa in the early hours of the night to get stuck into the highly anticipated Sankeys Ibiza opening, the contrast of stepping into the hot, busy venue was once again remarkable and amusing at once. It is clear that after a winter of tranquil hibernation, the island is ready to p-a-r-t-y, and Sankeys’ Star Wars themed opening had generated a lot of hype and anticipation over the last few weeks.

Always one to surprise with his creativity, forward-thinking and sense of humour, boss David Vincent had created a mini movie – one of a series of 26 – to get us all excited about the upcoming season and announce the line-up for the first big do of the 2016 season. Titled Sankeys Awakens and set in a galaxy ‘far, far away’, it included appearances from outlandish-looking aliens, big name artists like Daft Punk and Snoop Dogg and, of course, David and his adorable club mascot Sankeys the dog. There are more to come over the course of the summer, partly filmed at the club, so make sure you swing by the official Sankeys Ibiza Facebook page to check them out!

The evening had kicked off with a free BBQ on the club’s rooftop area the Terrace, offering people the chance to soak up a few rays and fuel up for a 12-hour party marathon that would end at the finishing line of 6.30am. Island favourite Lisa Chadderton started proceedings with soulful sunshine tunes to ease revelers into night, followed by sets from Alice Clark, Marta DLM, Stephanie Rosse and Maxine Hardcastle, who got the crowd into the party mood for the opening of Sankeys’ Basement space, where Manu Gonzalez was first up.

In the venue’s LAB room, Frank Storm took over the booth at midnight, while the talented Kellie Allen was taking charge in Sankeys’ Spectrum area with a banging one-and-a-half hour set. By the time we arrived, the party in the Basement was in full swing after a cracking performance from lee Walker driven by infectious bass lines, with the powerful sound system literally making the floorboards vibrate and sending electric currents through our hair.

As the night continued, the beats got faster and harder when DJ icon Steve Lawler whipped the room into frenzy. Never failing to make a connection with the crowd he mixed up tunes that had everyone going crazy on the dancefloor, including his entourage in the booth behind him. In between all these amazing sets, those needing a breather found a welcome chill-out opportunity in Sankeys rooftop cinema, which was – of course – showing Star Wars: The Force Awakens. A genius idea that we think should get adopted by more venues!

As we entered the early hours of the morning, there was no sign of slowing down when Danish techo artist and big name producer Kölsch finished off the night with grimy, distorted sounds that had us giving every last ounce of energy we had left after hours of dancing. Those preferring mellower beats wandered over to get funky with Miguel Campbell, who shut down the LAB with a melodic mix of popular tunes following a live performance by Kink.

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Seriously, if there had ever been an occasion where we had wanted to be able to be in several places at once, it would have been at Sankeys Awakens to see all of the amazing line-up. Maybe David Vincent can think about introducing some Star Wars style holograph technology next?